I want to start this piece by talking about the Brock Turners and Brett Kavanaughs of our generation and re-emphasising the brokenness of the US judicial system that perpetuates their extreme privilege.
But it turns out that I have nothing new or unique to add about their white maleness that you aren’t already aware of. During his trial, Turner’s exemplary academic and athletic record at Stanford University became the main focus of the defense attorney’s argument, while his father claimed that his sentence was too steep a price to pay for “20 minutes of action”.
Brock Turner was sentenced to all of six months in Santa Clara County Jail for sexual assault with intent to commit rape; he was released at the end of his third month on the account of “good behaviour”.
Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate as a judge of the Supreme Court of the United States last week, serving as a contemporary of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who spent her entire career advocating for gender equality and a woman’s right to choose.
There was no trial; it was his word against that of Dr Christine Blasey Ford. A precursory FBI investigation found no conclusive evidence suggesting that Judge Kavanaugh was one of the young men who had sexually assaulted Dr Ford that evening in 1982. On the Senate floor on Friday, Susan Collins, a Republican Senator from Maine, offered a nuanced defence of Brett Kavanaugh and the sexual harassment allegations brought against him, citing the dangers associated with abandoning “the presumption of innocence and fairness”, and reminding the Senate (and President Donald Trump) that “it is when passions are most inflamed that fairness is most in jeopardy”.
In both cases, the survivors faced intrusive questioning about every traumatic detail of the incident; questions were raised about the reliability of their memory, about their levels of intoxication, their character and intent. Interestingly, this “presumption of innocence” can only be extended to the men with “exemplary records”; because, you know, how can you be an over-achiever and a sexual predator at the same time?
How can you be good at what you do for a living, and yet be completely morally bankrupt at the same time?
Such a difficult concept to wrap your head around. But… but…how can Bill Cosby be a rapist? He played the nice guy on TV! How can the visionary auteur and social commentator Woody Allen be a sex offender? The answer is simple: with relevant ease and (in most cases) horrifying impunity.
Needless to say, the #MeToo movement, whether in India or in the United States, is not just about gender; it is also about privilege.
As if overcoming the shame and humiliation of sexual assault or harassment were not enough, the victims, who are usually at the disadvantaged end of this power dynamic, must also carry out the emotional labour of proving the authenticity of their accounts; because, you know, such a serious allegation may have devastating effects on the lives and careers of the accused!
We must, therefore, keep quiet and put our own lives, our careers, and general well-being at stake, while also paying attention to other indicators of our moral righteousness, such as our sartorial choices, our levels of intoxication, and the company we keep.
We are deprived of this ‘presumption of innocence’ – both in the legal and moral senses of the phrase. This quality of mercy cannot be extended to us unless, at some point in our lives, we are able to surpass the success and achievements of our wrong-doers. The survivor will be taken seriously only when they are more powerful and more privileged than the perpetrator. That is the tragedy of our time.
Every Action Has an Equal and Opposite Reaction
Being angry is okay. It is necessary; indeed, it is understandable. But being angry is not enough. We need to create our own cliches: our own responses to lazy, humiliating platitudes like “boys will be boys”.
Real change will happen when we identify our allies, join forces and commit to taking action against the individual and institutional levels to challenge the status quo. Real change will happen when we, as a society, are able to better deal with complexity and ambiguity, and grasp basic ideas like how an intoxicated woman can also speak the truth or how a talented artist can also attempt rape.
Not every instinct and feeling can be measured, or even articulated, in empirical terms. If you make me uncomfortable, and I tell you that you are making me uncomfortable without being able to precisely describe or even measure it on a scale of 0 to 10. In response, you need to stop.
And if reading this makes you uncomfortable, your time is up.
(The author Rukmini Banerjee is a peacebuilding and development professional currently based in Washington, DC. She completed her M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
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